A Plan

"Are you awake?" Nanfeng asked softly, looking at Yuki Haku and Zabuza as they came to.

Zabuza's eyes shifted from confusion to shock as he looked at Nanfeng. It was hard to imagine what must have gone through his mind during that time.

"You? Akiya? Why are you here...? I remember I..." Yuki Haku shook his head, confused. His last memory was of rushing forward to take the fatal Raikiri meant for Zabuza.

But now, he had no visible wounds. The dull ache in his body still reminded him that he seemed to have just gone through a brutal battle.

"It was just my Genjutsu. I tricked all of you," Nanfeng admitted, telling Zabuza and Yuki Haku what he had done.

No matter how arrogant Zabuza was, he had fallen silent. Nanfeng had drawn everyone into a Genjutsu without making a sound. The man was clearly not just a simple Medical Ninja, as he appeared.

"Why did you do this?" Zabuza asked, baffled.

"Put simply, it'd be a shame for you two to die here in the Land of Waves. One of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist and a surviving member of the Yuki Clan—that's a fine combination of strength and connections." Nanfeng shrugged.

"But aren't we enemies? Is sparing an enemy's life really a good idea for you?" Zabuza's voice turned low.

Nanfeng still had other tricks up his sleeve, but with Yuki Haku and him working together, escaping from Nanfeng shouldn't be difficult.

No matter how talented he was, Nanfeng was only twelve. At most, Zabuza was a Chunin at the time. Even a prodigy like Nanfeng couldn't have surpassed that limit.

"Then why don't you try?" Nanfeng opened his eyes again. His pale purple pupils fixed on Zabuza, and a sudden shiver ran through him, making him abandon the idea.

He had a feeling that the moment he made a move, those eyes would seize control of him. As it turned out, his instincts were right.

"I've also placed a Genjutsu on you. If either of you makes a move, it'll activate instantly. It's a Genjutsu adapted from the Sharingan; you won't be able to break free in an instant." Nanfeng's words were startling.

Sharingan? At the word, Zabuza stared intently at Nanfeng's eyes. Was this some new kind of eye technique? An altered form of the Sharingan? There had never been any news of anything like it in the shinobi world!

"So, can you listen to what I have to say now?" Nanfeng said gravely. Zabuza and Yuki Haku nodded mechanically.

"I want you to keep what happened today—my saving you—from anyone else. I'm worried about the state of the shinobi world. Kirigakure is in turmoil, and Konoha, where I live, may face unrest in the future as well. I've decided to make some friends so I'll have a way to protect myself. As for your identities, I have an idea for you..."

Nanfeng held up a finger and wrote two characters in the dirt: Gato.

Zabuza's eyes lit up when he saw the name. Gato would make a good cover, and money would come in handy for them, too.

Why did shinobi take on missions, if not to earn money and live better?

Now that they had an easier path to wealth, why not give it a try?

"Then, what about you..." Zabuza began to ask, but Nanfeng merely waved a hand.

"I can't stay with you for long. My feelings toward Konoha are still rather... complicated, but that doesn't mean I won't return. For now, I still have plans to carry out there. As for things here, I can only leave them in your hands. What you make of them is up to you. I just hope that if I'm ever left with nowhere to turn, I can come to you and lie low."

Nanfeng kept it simple, but Zabuza heard more behind his words.

Nanfeng's strength was clearly on the level of an Elite Jonin, if not a Quasi-Kage. If even someone like him had reason to worry, then the future of the shinobi world must truly be bleak.

"Oh, and I have another task for you. If you have time, keep an eye on the Akatsuki Organization," Nanfeng continued.

"The Akatsuki Organization? I know a little about them. My former comrade, Juzo Biwa, was once part of the organization, but he seems to have died." Zabuza shook his head. Even now, the loss of his former comrade left him feeling wistful.

"Watch what they do. Those people are nothing less than... super idealists." Nanfeng called them idealists, but added the qualifier "super."

Idealism was a good thing, but when people relied on it too much, they became nothing short of lunatics. Everyone in the Akatsuki Organization was like that!

"Understood. If I hear anything..." Zabuza asked.

"Just keep it with you for now. Take good care of this. I'll be back to see you soon." Nanfeng placed a special kunai in front of Zabuza. The moment Zabuza saw its design, he froze.

A Flying Thunder God kunai! Did that mean this mysterious shinobi knew the Flying Thunder God Technique?

Of course not. Nanfeng could use the Flying Thunder God Technique, but he still needed to understand its principles better before he could use it to create his own Space Ninjutsu.

"Then I'll be going. I hope your plans go smoothly." Nanfeng vanished right before their eyes. The switch he had prepared was carried out at the same time, and Kakashi, Sasuke, and the others noticed nothing of what he had just done.

"Lord Zabuza... what do we do now?" Yuki Haku was as obedient as ever. As long as he could work alongside Zabuza, it seemed to him that the place didn't matter.

"We'll do as Akiya asked. If someone like him thinks the shinobi world is headed for trouble, then we may well face even greater dangers. We'd better protect ourselves first!" After experiencing death in the Genjutsu, Zabuza and Yuki Haku had grown a little closer.

They were no longer master and servant as before, but comrades and partners who were closer than ever—two people who could rely on each other to survive in this lonely shinobi world.